Friday, March 28, 2008

Deadline hell

Deadline hell is bad, deadline super-hell is when you lock yourself in a study, ignoring all calls and emails, live off apples, water and the odd slice of toast, work 16-hour days flat-out without even having time to shower or change for the last 48 hours, in order to transcribe 4 hours of interview tapes and get it over for first thing Friday, ending up with an unshiftable blinding headache from looking at a computer screen... only to discover that the editor has decided to run the piece next weekend instead of this one (because of a serialisation deal)

Anyway, that's why I haven't been blogging all week.

I'm pleased with the interview though - so is the editor, and even better, so is the subject. It's still too long, at 5500 words but quite honestly it could have been a whole book.

I won't say who the subject is yet, or thank my fabulous researcher and interviewee-introducer, so as not to give the game away - but it's going to be even more topical next weekend, when the second reading of the latest anti-terrorism bill will be occupying Parliament, and two major terrorism trials will be starting - the alleged 7/7 co-conspirators, and the alleged airline plotters.

But now I've finally finished ( bar the final chopping and editing, which can now wait 'til next week) I'm going to have a well-deserved glass of wine, get out of this room where the walls are starting to close in on me, and stop looking at my computer screen.